Robert Dale Owen Biography

Birth: November 7, 1801 in Glasgow, Scotland

Death: June 24, 1877 in New York City, New York, United
States

"STUDENTS of American life have long been impressed by the
remarkable breadth of interests shown by many leading public men a
century ago. just because they dispersed their efforts so widely,
however, some of these have gradually and rather undeservedly
faded from the pages of history. In such a group belongs Robert
Dale Owen, one of the most versatile figures in an age of
versatility. As editor, educator, and labor leader, as politician,
diplomat, and man of letters, as legislator, feminist, and
champion of a new religious faith, as advocate at one time or
another of all sorts of reforms ranging from birth control to
Negro emancipation, and as author of all sorts of books from
theological discussions to treatises on architecture and plank
roads, Owen was one of the best known and most publicized men of
his generation. Surprisingly enough, he has been also one of the
most neglected."

--Robert Leopold, Harvard
biographer

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

"Writing history is like making a bouquet in a garden of rare
and beautiful flower. there is such an array of material, so much
to choose from, so little that can be chosen, and so much to be
left untouched."

--Judge Banta "The Voyage of Oscar Wilde"

In preparing this sketch I was forced to reject more material
used; to cast aside more flowers than my bouquet contains. If I
have had the judgment to select those which give forth the
sweetest fragrance, those whose colors best blend in unison, I
have been fortunate, indeed.

Robert Dale Owen, litterateur, reformer and statesman, Was born
in Glasgow, Scotland, November 7, 1801 His father was Robert Owen,
the noted philanthropist, and his mother a daughter of avid Dale,
a rich cotton-spinner, renowned for his benevolence. When Robert
was a child his father removed to New Lanark, a village near
Glasgow, where he operated an extensive cotton mill. He had a
delightful home, known as Braxfield House, where he lived in
elegance, and at which he entertained many of the most
distinguished men of his day, among them the Grand Duke Nicholas,
afterwards Emperor of Russia. Here young Robert remained until he
was sixteen years old. receiving all the advantages which wealth
and cultured surroundings could bestow. At that age he left home,
and with his brother William went to Switzerland, and for three
years attended the school at Hofwyl, near Berne, conducted by M.
Fellenberg, a noted Swiss scholar and statesman. On leaving Hofwyl
he returned to New Lanark (statement of his daughter about his
overwork and commitment)

"The cause of the calamity which has befallen us is simply an
overworked brain. My father believed his strong Scotch
constitution could, even in his old age, endure all things ; but
richly endowed though he was with physical and mental vigor, he
could not break God's laws of health with impunity, and we. his
children, can not, with our love and care, shield him from the
effects of his error."

Mr. Owen was received into the Indiana Hospital for the Insane
July to, 1875, and left it restored to health October 14, of the
same year. A few days before he left the institution be addressed
Dr. Everts, then its superintendent, a letter, from which I make
the following extract:

"If a man wishes to be well spoken of by those who had hitherto
slighted or reproved him, lie had better either die or suffer a
temporary civic death by confinement in a lunatic asylum De
mortuis nil nisi bonum--we speak with tender favor of the dead.
This has been amply illustrated by the many newspaper notices of
myself' which have fallen tinder my, observation since an inmate
of this institution. I trust that on entering the world again I
shall give no cause for retraction of these good opinions of the
press, so kindly volunteered while temporarily secluded."

Soon after leaving the Insane Hospital Mr. Owen took up his
residence at a cottage on the banks of Lake George, and resumed
his literary work. He was engaged to write a series of articles
for Scribner's Monthly on his recollections of matters in the
West, but soon after finishing the first one, he sickened and
died. The end came on the morning of the 24th of June, 1877, at
his cottage home. His funeral services were conducted by a Mr.
Huntington, a Presbyterian minister, in the presence of the family
and neighbors of the dead philanthropist. After the services were
over a procession was formed, which marched around the lake shore
to the cemetery near the village of Caldwell. -Here the remains of
Mr. Owen were deposited in the earth. One who was present at the
burial thus describes the scene:

"It was a scene for an artist. As the casket was being lowered
into the grave we looked up to take in a glimpse of the
surroundings. In the company were persons representing various
conditions of life. Here was a believer, there an infidel, yonder
several Christian neighbors, and beyond these a group of Indians,
watching with wonder every movement. The beautiful lake stretched
out before tis in full view ; Upon its bosom was the new steamer,
coming rapidly toward tis ; the sun gilded the tops of the distant
mountains, and its light reflected from a thousand wavelets. From
the grave you can see his former home; from his home you can
behold some of the most pleasing aspects of nature ; from nature
as she is here revealed you may, if pure in heart, see God!"

Mr. Owen was twice married. His first wife's maiden name was
Mary Jane Robinson. He married her in New York, April 12, 1832.
The marriage ,vas performed by a notary public, in the presence of
the bride's family and a few of her neighbors. Previous to the
marriage, Mr. Owen drew up and signed a paper, from which I make
this extract:

Of the unjust rights which, in virtue of this ceremony, an
iniquitous lax-, tacitly gives me over the person and property of
another, I can not legally, but I can morally, divest myself. And
I hereby distinctly and emphatically declare that I consider
myself, and earnestly desire to be considered by others,. as
utterly divested, now and during the rest of my life, of any such
rights, the barbarous relics of a feudal and despotic system, now
destined in the onward course of improvement to be wholly swept
away, and the existence of which is a tacit insult to the good
sense and good feeling of the present comparatively civilized
age."

Mr. Owen lived to see the iniquitous law swept away " in
Indiana, and bad the pleasure of knowing that it was mainly by his
efforts that it was done.

Mrs. Owen lived to a ripe old age, and until her husband had
become one of the noted men of his day. When she died, Mrs.
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a hymn, which was sung at her burial,
and her husband delivered a eulogy upon her life and character, as
he stood by her open grave. In this eulogy he thus declared his
faith in a hereafter:

"I do not believe-and here I speak also of her whose departure
from us we mourn to-day&emdash;I do not believe more firmly in
these trees that spread their shade over its, in this hill on
which we stand, in these sepulchral monuments which we see around
us here, than I do that human life, once granted, never perishes
more. She believed, as I believe, that the one life succeeds the
other without interval, save a brief transition slumber, it may be
for a few hours only. * Again, I believe, as she did, in the
meeting and recognition of friends in heaven. While we mourn here
below, there are joyful reunions above.

Mr. Owen's second wife's maiden name was Lottie Walton Kellogg.
He married her about a year before he died. His autobiography,
which was mainly written at her house, was dedicated to her.

Mr. Owen was a devoted Odd Fellow, and was appointed by the
Grand Lodge of Indiana to purchase ground, and upon it erect a
Grand Lodge hall. The building in Indianapolis known as Odd
Fellows' Hall was the result of this appointment.

Mr. Owen, having been one of the early settlers of Indiana,
knew what it was to travel over bad and muddy roads. In 1851 and
'52, he warmly advocated, by pen and tongue, the construction of
plank roads, and did much to create the plank road fever of that
time. These roads, like the block pavements of to-day, were smooth
and delightful to travel upon -,-,,hen new, and like them, also,
were exceedingly rough and difficult to get over when old and
worn. They lasted but a few years, and crave place to the gravel
and macadamized roads now so generally used.

In 1843, Or 1844 Mr. Owen was invited by the Union Literary
Society of Hanover College to deliver an address before it. So
soon as it was known that the invitation had been given and
accepted the faculty of the college and some of its trustees
determined he should not speak. Rev. E. D. McMasters was the
president of the college, and to him, more than any one else, was
due the insult that was heaped upon Mr. Owen in this matter.

Knowing that Hon. James Y. Allison, of Madison, was then a
resident of Hanover, I addressed him a note, asking for his
recollection of the event. In judge Allison's reply he said:

"I remember the circumstances well, as I was one of the
committee of the Union Literary Society to confer with Dr.
Mcmasters on the subject. Mr. Owen had been invited as the
anniversary speaker for the society, and Dr. McMasters said, "He,
being an infidel, can not speak,' and we had to cancel the
engagement."

The illiberality and dogmatism that prompted such a decision
would have put upon Mr. Owen the iron boot and driven in the
wedge, had the laws of the land allowed it. Thank God for the law
that prevents bigots from putting men to the torture for it
difference of opinion!

Mr. Owen's mother was a Presbyterian, and his father a deist.
He adhered to the doctrines of his father until middle life, but
the teachings of his mother had not been entirely lost upon him.
In many of his speeches, and often in his writings, he spoke of
Jesus, and always with reverence. In his latter days he became, as
we have seen, a spiritualist, and he enriched the literature of
his time with publications in favor of that doctrine. It has been
charged that he recanted spiritualism before his death, but this
is a mistake. He died in the faith he had so ably advocated and
defended.

Mr. Owen was a radical of the most pronounced type. He tried to
make the world better by uprooting and destroying that which he
believed to be bad. He never advocated a measure because it was
old; in fact, age was a reason for attacking it. He believed in
progression. He thought the world should grow better as it grew
older, and he labored hard to make it so. That in some respects he
succeeded must be the verdict of mankind.

Mr. Owen was unusually prompt in meeting his engagements. If he
made an appointment he kept it to the minute. He was always on
hand when the train started, never being left nor having to run to
reach it.

Mr. Owen was five feet eight and a half inches high, and
weighed about 150 pounds. He had a large head (he wore a 7
1/2-inch hat) and a long face. His nose and mouth were large, his
forehead broad and high. His eyes were a blue-gray, over which the
lids drooped when he was absorbed in thought. Tile expression of
his face was frank and mild. He had great earnestness in all his
undertakings, from the most trivial to the most important. He
would throw all his energies into an attempt to stop a street car
rather than wait for the next one. To succeed in what he
undertook, and to give pleasure to others, gave him the greatest
happiness.

He was very fond of making presents. Indeed, this was almost a
mania with him. In order to make an offering that would be a
surprise, so as to give the greater satisfaction, he would take
trouble out of all proportion to the result. He was impatient when
forced to attend to business, particularly that relating to money
matters. He had a contempt for money for its own sake, and spent
it freely. He occupied but a small part of his time in
money-getting, yet he made a good deal of it. His freedom,
however, in spending money and giving it away prevented him. fro
accumulating anything like a fortune.

No traits of his character were more prominent than his
buoyancy and hopefulness. In the severest reverses he saw
something good. He lived in the faith that mortal affairs were
presided over by a beneficent being and influenced by his spirit.
In a trustfulness childlike in its simplicity, he believed that,
in some way or other, everything that transpires, no matter what
its immediate appearance may be, works out for good.

In politics, Mr. Owen was a Democrat. On the breaking out of
the civil war he separated from his party, and during the great
struggle affiliated with the friends of Mr. Lincoln's
administration, but on those questions which usually divide
parties he was essentially a Democrat.

I can not better conclude this sketch than by adopting the
language of another, one who knew Mr. Owen, intimately and well,
Mr. B. R. Sulgrove:

"His manner was courteous, unaffected and conciliating. he
never let his feelings displace his reason and force him to harsh
language or ungenerous allusions. Even in the heat of a
presidential campaign he never dealt in personal aspersions or
imputations of bad motives. Severity, irritation, invective, were
no parts of his rhetoric. He abused neither individuals nor
parties, and was as little of a 'rabble rouser' as a quiet mail
could be, though one of the most powerful and altogether the most
winning of all speakers the Democracy ever had in this State. He
relied on facts, and rational applications of them. and he never
made a stump speech that did not contain more substance in a
sentence than most stumpers could get into a wind gust continued,
like a Chinese play or a Ledger story, for six months. He was what
a party orator never was then and rarely is now&emdash;a scholar.
He knew something besides 'antecedents,' and 'records,' and
'platforms,' and the stale drippings of ten thousand watery
effusions. If he had any animating Principle to which all others
were subordinated it was his humanity. In all his lectures and
legislation and fugitive publications his theme was social or
individual improvement, effacing mean prejudices, diffusing
wholesome correction, elevating human nature. He inherited it from
his father, and made it at least as effective by good sense and
practical statesmanship as his father did by wealth and energetic
preaching.

"In scholarship, general attainments, varied achievements, as
author, statesman, politician and leader of a new religious faith,
he was unquestionably the most prominent man Indiana ever owned.
Others may fill now, or may have heretofore filled a larger space
in public curiosity or interest for a time, but no other Hoosier
was ever so widely known, or so likely to do the State credit by
being known, and no other has ever before held so prominent a
place so long with a history so unspotted with selfishness,
duplicity or injustice. He was a pure man, and in two generations
of politicians with whom he lived and labored there can not enough
more of the same kind be named to have filled the bond of Sodom's
safety. It is noteworthy that, though he began his public life an
infidel, he ended it a believer in the most irrational of
superstitions, if it be not the most inaccessible of sciences, his
father did, too."

The above sketch was reproduced from Biographical
and historical sketches of early Indiana." by William Woollen
(1883)

Biographical Sources:

Robert Dale Owen, Threading My Way: Twenty-seven Years
of Autobiography, New York, 1874.